Foster Care Nightmare?
by Nutrium
Summary: Jay Hogart is the meanest guy in school.But when Spike and Snake decide to let him stay with them when he needs them most, what does Emma think? Em&Jay, R


Emma groaned as she struggled with her books to open her locker. She almost had it open, when something hit her. Literally. She fell to the floor, her books spewing every which way.

"Watch where you're goin, Green Peace." Jay snarled. He was in an extra mean mood today.

"Hey, YOU ran into ME, not the other way around." Emma shot back, giving him an angry glare.

Jay just got up and gave her a look, and went on his way. What an asshole. Emma got back up, and proceeded to pick up her books and shove them in her locker. She was glad she was up to her last period, because she was exhausted. She couldnt WAIT to get home.

Emma sighed as she waited outside Mr. Simpson's classroom. It was Friday, and Emma couldn't wait to finally get home. She had a lot of planning to do, it being mid-October and all, she wanted to make sure her plans for Halloween were still panning out as she was hoping they would.

Snake was in a meeting. She wasn't sure how much longer it was going to take. Just then, the door opened, and out walked Snake, and _JAY HOGART?_ Well, as if it was some big surprise. Jay got the worst grades in the class.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Jay. Don't worry. Things will get better." Said Snake to Jay as he sulked off.

"What was that about, Dad?"

Snake shook his head, "We'll talk about it when we get home, Em."

Emma couldn't stop thinking about what he meant. See him tomorrow? Tomorrow was Saturday. There was no school tomorrow. What could he possibly mean by that?

As soon as they were home and through the door, Emma spun around to face Snake.

"Okay, tell me. What did you mean you would see him tomorrow? Tomorrow is Saturday, Dad. There's no school tomorrow. What's going on?" She was getting really anxious. Snake guided her to the couch where her mother was already waiting.

"Emma.. I know this will seem a little…" Snake paused, looking at Spike. She nodded for him to go on. "a little… strange.. at first. But, Jay is having some family problems… It's not safe for him at home. He's not getting good grades. None of his family is fit to care for him. Your Mom and I agreed to take Jay in. We think, maybe, with a stable, normal living environment, Jay might get his grades up, and stop acting out."

Emma just stared. Jay. Jay Hogart. Living in THEIR home. Living in HER HOME. WHAT would her FRIENDS think when they found out? Jay was the meanest kid in the entire school. Everyone was scared of him. How could he be moving in with them.

"Em.." Said Spike softly, "He has no where to go. We figured we would try to give him a push in the right direction."

"No. No way am I living in the same house as JAY. He's the meanest kid in school, Mom. What are my friends going to say?" Tears were welling up in Emma's eyes. She tried to blink them away but was finding it difficult.

Spike moved over to hug Emma. "I'm sorry, Em. We will try to make the best of this. We will be paid to care for him here. We need the money, you know that." She said softly.

Emma broke away from her mother's embrace and ran downstairs to her room. She couldn't believe this was happening. She pinched herself to try to wake up from the nightmare, and eventually cried herself to sleep.

The next day Emma woke up with a pounding headache, probably due to her sobbing for so long last night. She opened her eyes and rolled over to look at her clock. 9:00AM.

_Well, I can't stay here all day, I guess…_

She got dressed, pulling on some simple jeans and a pink t-shirt, and jogged upstairs.

"Mom? Snake?" She called. No answer. She looked in their room, and Jack's room. No one.

_I guess they're getting Jay… Ugh…_

Emma plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. She had been lounging around for about an hour when the phone rang. Stumbling over one of Jack's toys, she managed to answer it in time.

"Hello?"

"Hey honey, it's Mom. We're getting Jay's stuff packed into the car and then we will be on our way home. Can you run to the store please and pick up some potatoes and chicken for dinner?"

"Sure Mom."

"Thanks, Em. We'll be home in about half an hour."

They hung up, and Emma put on some tennis shoes and ran to the store. Just as she was leaving, she ran into Manny.

"Emma! Hi!"

"Hey Manny.."

"Do you want to hang out later at your place, Em? My mom rented some great movies. We could watch them"

"Oh..Um..I.." Emma stalled. What should she say? Should she tell her? "I… promised my mom I would help her with something today. I can't. Sorry."

"Oh..okay.."

"Yeah…. See you round."

Emma started jogging back home before Manny could say anything else.

As she opened the door, Emma nearly tripped over various duffle bags that had been conveniently left there, but avoided falling with a quick hop and a jump.

"Mom? Dad?"

"Emma!" Spike called from the kitchen. Emma took a deep breath and braved her way into the kitchen, and saw none other than Jay Hogart sitting at HER kitchen table! She just stood and gawked at him. Snake gave her a "look".

"Um.. Hi.. Jay.." Emma said through her teeth. She shouldn't even give this guy the time of day.

Jay didn't look at her. He kept his head low.

"So, Emma.. we're going to move Jack into your room, and Jay is going to get his room for the time being." Spike said gently. She could tell how hard this was for Emma.

"Whatever. Look, I have a lot of homework, I'm going to get started on it." Emma said coolly.

"Okay, Em. I'll call you for lunch."

Emma walked down to her room and threw herself onto her bed. She couldn't cry anymore after last night. She sighed and rolled over onto her back. Just then, she heard a knock on the door. She jumped at the sound as it broke the silence, and mumbled "Come in..."

The door opened a crack, and she could barely make out the face of... Jay.


End file.
